There are about 65 species of venomous snakes living in our country, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the King Cobra. However, purely in terms of toxicity, the King Cobra can only rank fifth among the venomous snakes in our country, not even the top three. Even though it cannot be named, this does not affect its title of "King of Snakes" at all. Why is this? We might as well first learn about the venomous snakes in our country that are more venomous than the king cobra?

What are the four types of venomous snakes in my country that are more poisonous than the King Cobra?

The toxicity of venomous snakes is usually expressed by LD50, and LD50 is the median lethal dose, which is the minimum venom dose required to kill more than half of the experimental mice. The unit is mg/kg. The greater the value, the greater the lethal dose. The smaller the snake, the more toxic it is. The LD50 value of King Cobra varies greatly depending on its distribution. Among them, King Cobra distributed in my country is the most toxic, with an LD50 of 0.34 mg/kg. So, who are the other four species in my country that are more venomous than the King Cobra?

Fourth place: Long-snouted sea snake. The Longnose Sea Snake is a sea snake with a bright yellow belly. It is also a highly venomous sea snake. It has deadly neurotoxins. According to experiments by scientists, its LD50 value has reached 0.18mg/kg, which is more venomous than the King Cobra. Nearly twice as strong.

Third place: Suzhen krait snake. The Suzhen krait is a relatively "young" snake because it was only officially established in 2019. Before that, it had been regarded as a subspecies of the Bungarus krait in Yunnan.

Both the Suzhen krait and the Bungarus have black and white rings and are very similar in appearance. The only difference in appearance is the tail. The Suzhen krait's tail is more slender. The other differences are Mainly focused on the fangs and skull morphology. Although there is currently no LD50 data for the Suzhen krait, experts in our country say that its toxicity is comparable to that of the Bungara krait.

Second place: Bungarus snake. The bungara snake has been considered the most venomous snake in my country for a long time because its LD50 is as high as 0.08 mg/kg, which means that it only takes 0.08 mg to kill a prey weighing one kilogram. venom.

However, bungara snakes are timid and shy by nature. Unless they have no way to escape or are in the breeding season, their active aggression is relatively weak, and their amount of detoxification is also relatively small.

First place: Gray-blue flat-tailed sea snake. For quite some time, the bungara snake was considered to be the ceiling of venomous snake toxicity in my country. However, when scientists conducted research on sea snakes, this conclusion was overturned, because this sea snake with a gray-blue tail and a relatively flat tail actually contains 0.03 mg. LD50/kg.

Therefore, if we talk about terrestrial venomous snakes, the bungara snake is the most venomous snake in our country, but if we include sea snakes, it can only rank second, and the king cobra can only rank fifth. .

Since the venom of the King Cobra is not very strong, why is it still the "King of Snakes"?

The king cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the genus King Cobra in the family Cobra. It is closely related to the bungara snake and both belong to the family Cobra. However, the king cobra is classified as a separate genus King Cobra and not in the same genus as the cobra.

The king cobra has many nicknames, such as mountain snake, mountain wind, big flat-necked snake, big flat-headed wind, big swollen neck, etc. These nicknames reveal some of the characteristics of the king cobra, such as its large size, flat head, and rapid movement.

The body color of the King Cobra is usually dark brown, with a "∧"-shaped yellow and white markings on its back, but there are no spectacle-shaped spots. There are narrow horizontal stripes of white and black on the back of the trunk and tail. The lower jaw is khaki, while the ventral surface of the body is grayish brown with black linear markings.

King Cobras have a wide distribution range, whether in plains, hills, mountains, or environments near waters. In Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places in my country, incidents of King Cobras appearing and even injuring people often occur.

Although the King Cobra is not really a "king" based solely on its toxicity, it is outstanding in four aspects, making it well-deserved for the title of "King of Snakes".

First, it is large and can excrete a large amount of venom at a time

Although the venom of the King Cobra is not the most toxic, it is larger and can produce more venom. , the amount of detoxification in a single session is also larger. In fact, when a king cobra attacks an opponent, it can detoxify up to 400mg at a time. Such a huge amount of detoxification is enough to kill a cow.

In addition, unlike most other snakes that only inject venom into an opponent when they bite them, the king cobra can spray its venom directly. If the eyes of the person or animal being attacked are stained with snake venom, they will soon become blind.

Second, toxins

The venom of venomous snakes is usually divided into four types of toxins: blood circulation toxins, neurotoxins, cytotoxins and mixed toxins. The venom of most snakes is a single species. For example, the venom of the bungara snake is a neurotoxin. Bites from it will eventually lead to death from nervous system paralysis, which in turn affects the respiratory system.

However, the venom of the King Cobra is a mixed toxin, containing both neurotoxins and blood circulation toxins. If bitten by a king cobra, the injured person will have severe local symptoms. Not only will the blood flow not stop, but the wound will also become swollen, purple, and even necrotic. In addition, the injured will also suffer from severe abdominal pain, difficulty breathing and other symptoms, and will eventually die from multiple organ failure and respiratory muscle paralysis.

Third, King Cobras are highly aggressive

Most snakes do not like to be close to inhabited environments and will not actively attack people. Snake bites are mostly caused by people accidentally entering the snake's territory or stepping on the snake. The snake bites people out of self-defense. However, the King Cobra is different. It is very aggressive and will attack anything that comes close to it. Not only will it not hide when it sees people, but it will take the initiative to attack.

For example, on June 8, a man in Huizhou, Guangdong Province was attacked by a king cobra that suddenly jumped out while passing a wall corner. Fortunately, the man was not bitten and the king cobra did not pursue him again after the man escaped. This shows how aggressive the King Cobra is. In addition, King Cobras attack very quickly. When they are threatened, they will raise the front third of their bodies to put their heads in a higher position, so that the attack range will be wider and they can bite The upper body of a person.

Fourth: Snake Nemesis

The King Cobra is also known as the "Snake Eater", and its diet includes almost all species in its habitat except pythons and anacondas. Most species of snakes, including nonvenomous snakes, such as mouse snakes, and venomous snakes, such as cobras. The reason why the King Cobra can eat other venomous snakes is not only due to its size advantage, but also its strong immunity to neurotoxins, which means that the venom of most members of the Cobra family is ineffective against it.

Finally

Although simply looking at the toxicity value, the King Cobra is not outstanding, but as the largest venomous snake in existence, the amount of poison excreted by the King Cobra is one of the best among venomous snakes. As the saying goes, the dose is not enough, so the King Cobra is still a very deadly venomous snake.

In addition, the King Cobra is large in size and has a certain immunity to snake venom, which makes it the nemesis of most snakes. It is precisely because of this that it has the title of "the best among all snakes". King" title.